Syllabus for Introduction to Nonprofits

The Syllabus for Introduction to Nonprofits has not been officially approved yet, but I don't expect any major changes. I tried to accommodate most of the very helpful comments.

This will be a class offering a broad fairly comprehensive overview, with time unfortunately not permitting a lot of depth.

From the Syllabus:

Students will gain a general understanding of the roles and functions of nonprofit organizations in the US and in New Mexico. In the first half of the semester, the course will cover the legal, regulatory, policy and ethical aspects of the nonprofit sector, as well as the major nonprofit theories. The second half will cover issues of organizational development and management, including resource development, financial management, HR, strategic planning, collaborations, program development and volunteer management.

We will suggest additional resources and literature on each of the topics. And we will take a lot of notes that will inform the development of the future WNMU Nonprofit Management Certificate and degree programs.

Charlie Alfero and I will co-teach the class, with the help of some wonderful guest speakers.

No quizzes, no exams, but a bunch of empirical research and writing assignments are expected. As is attendance and participation in the class/group work: To cut down on sleep inducing lecture time, Charlie has thought up a group exercise that will be continued throughout the semester, at each session: we will create a mock nonprofit - based on a community priority setting exercise, go through the start-up stages, put together a board, a strategic plan, work on developing a program, an organizational budget, and discuss most of the class topics (see below) as they apply to our class-created nonprofit organization.

We are hoping for a diverse group of students that will allow for peer learning. Some new to the nonprofit world, some with practical experience in a few areas, and some bringing expertise from the business and government sectors.

The course will be beneficial to people already in the NPO workforce who feel they never got the big picture, and educational for Social and Political Science students trying to understand the role of nonprofits in our society, as well as informative for anyone aiming at a career in the sector.

Here's the schedule (starting January 12, each Tuesday 5:30-815 pm)

Session	Date	Theme
1	Jan 12	Introduction
2	Jan 19	Ethics
3	Jan 26	Governance
4	Feb 2	Nonprofit Theories
5	Feb9	Policy and Regulatory Issues
6	Feb16	Social Innovation and other functions
7	Feb 23	Strategic Planning
8	Mar 2	Organizational Stages
	Mar 9	Spring Recess
9	Mar 16	Management
10	Mar 23	Revenues and Resources I
11	Mar 30	Revenues and Resources II
12	Apr 06	Financial Management I
13	Apr 13	Financial Management II
14	Apr 27	Volunteerism and Volunteer Management
15	May 4	Program Development
16	May 11	Program Management
17	May 18	Collaboration